After the Metarex: Sonic's Story
by TailsLovesCosmo
Summary: Sonic is forced to leave a grieving Tails to face a dangerous old foe and find someone he's long been searching for. Takes place between chapters 17 and 21 of After the Metarex: Tails' Story.
1. Chapter 1

AFTER THE METAREX: SONIC'S STORY

Chapter One

"Old Friends and Foes"

Sonic the Hedgehog seemed to fly across the face of Mobius. For months, he'd been struggling to help his best friend, Miles "Tails" Prower, deal with the death of Tails' lost love, Cosmo. Tails seemed to just keep getting worse, though, and Sonic realized he needed some time away from the problem. It felt good to be able to run all out again.

As sonic booms followed the hedgehog, Sonic thought about what he'd be running into ahead. It had been more than a year since he'd worked with Bunny and Antoine, and he and St. John had never gotten along too well. He didn't really know St. John's wife, Hershey.

Sonic came to a chasm. He ran alongside it for a ways, trying to find the narrowest point. When he located a gap that seemed easily jumpable, he ran backwards. He crouched, started spinning, then rushed the chasm.

"WOO-HOO-HOO-HOO-HOOOOO!!!" Sonic yelled as he made his leap. It had to be hundreds of feet down, but Sonic took the leap easily.

"Man, if I thought about stuff like this, I'd probably have just scared myself halfway out of my mind!" Sonic said to himself. But Sonic rarely allowed himself to think that way. The one time he had paused, an innocent had died because of his indecision. He swore that wouldn't happen again.

"So, I'm supposed to work with St. John and 'Toine," Sonic mused. "Two of my least popular fellow Freedom Fighters! Oh well. It's been much too long since I messed with 'Toine's mind! What little there is of it, anyway!"

"Sonic?" That came from his phone. A small 3-D image of Nicole appeared. "You're veering off too far to the left. Go approximately ten degrees to the right."

"Uh…Tails isn't here with me," Sonic pointed out. "Could you repeat that again in Mobian?"

Nicole sighed. "Go right," she said. "A little more. A little…too much! There! That's it! Nicole out!"

"Boy, that Nicole sure is a stickler for details," Sonic said to himself. "Oh well. Any problem they'd send Antoine out to can't be a problem for Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Many miles away, at the quarry...

"Haha haha!" came the infuriating laugh of a fool. The hedgehog gritted her teeth. One day, she'd knock that robot chicken's head off his shoulders. "Get to work, you goldbricks! The doctor wants gold, not excuses!" He cracked his whip. Since he was very bad at it, even after years of practice, the whip hit his "brother."

"Ow!" Grounder yelled. "Hey, watch it!" The robot resembled some demented nightmare of a lawn mower with drills for hands. Eggman must have built him after being up all night, the hedgehog thought. Between them, and the monkey with the light bulb on his head, it should have been easy to escape this place. But it wasn't. Because no one ever knew when _he_ would show up.

"Here," the girl said, giving water to an old duck. His eyes were sunken in his head, and his beak was cracked in several places. She realized he wouldn't survive long. He was the only adult among the miners. Too old and infirm to be used elsewhere by the madman, the duck took the ore the others dug up and sifted through it for the gold.

"Bless you, child!" he moaned. He coughed.

"Hey!" Scratch yelled. "Quit goofing off!"

"He's sick!" the hedgehog cried. "He needs a doctor!"

"Aw, he's faking it!" Grounder said. "I'll bet he'd jump to his feet if we caught and brought Mina Mongoose in here!"

"Who the heck is that?" the girl demanded.

"Big rock singer," Scratch said. "You should know about her. Your big bro used to go out with her!"

"Say what?" the girl said. "I don't think your head is screwed on quite right." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Mister Plume needs a doctor!"

"No, no, I can work!" the duck moaned. He struggled back to his job.

"Don't you two have any hearts?" the hedgehog girl demanded. "No, of course not! You're just soulless machines!"  
"Duh, you'll pay for that remark, girlie!" Grounder said.

"Lock her up in the stockade!" Scratch said.

"She's my prisoner!" Grounder insisted. "I'll decide what to do with her!"

"Well? What are you going to do with her?" Scratch demanded.

Grounder seemed to concentrate. You could hear the gears in his head working. They needed oiling. "Oh, I know!" he said at last. "I'll put her in the stockade!"

"Brilliant deduction, old boy!" Scratch said sarcastically as Grounder dragged the girl away.

"Hey!" Coconuts yelled at Scratch. "I've been working in the kitchen all day! How much do we actually have to feed slaves, anyway?"

"Well, let's see…" Scratch said. "No food means slaves die. Dead slaves don't work. So…more than nothing?"

"Wow," Coconuts said. "You're…an idiot. Seriously."

"Listen, shorty, the doctor put me in charge of this place! Haha haha!"  
"Oh please," Coconuts said. "He dumped us all half way around the world when he made those lousy new guys, Bocoe, Decoe, and that little freak, Bokkun!" The monkey pointed out. "Besides, we're just flunkies of the doctor's most dangerous creation!"

Scratch grabbed the monkey, placing a hand over his mouth. "Don't say his name!" Scratch hissed, looking around. "Whenever he shows up, he makes us work extra shifts!"

"Unhand me!" Coconuts said, hitting Scratch with the frying pan he was carrying.

"That's it!" Scratch yelled. "You want a piece of me, you little freak!"

"Just don't give me a piece of your mind!" Coconuts said. "You can't spare any!"

Meanwhile, Grounder was having troubles of his own.

"I'm not going in there, you mechanical mistake of nature!" the hedgehog girl screamed. She was pounding Grounder right in his audio servors.

"Hey, stop that!" Grounder yelled. "I'm getting some killer feedback!"

"When my brother finds out what you're doing, you and your crazy friends are all toast!" she cried as Grounder threw her in and slammed the steel bars down into place.

"Duh, you stay there until you learn how to behave yourself!" Grounder said. "Ow! Sounds like a washing machine going on inside my noggin!"

"I hope I damaged something serious!" the girl cried. "I hope your ugly head falls right off! I hope…" But Grounder was already gone. The hedgehog sank down to the floor of the cell. It was eight by ten, with no roof. The Mobian sun beat down on her. It was the end of summer, but still very hot.

"Where are you, big brother?" she sobbed. "You promised Mom and Dad you'd always look out for me! I've been working for that stupid bald jerk for…I don't know how long I've been here! Years, I guess!"

Sonic at last managed to locate the Freedom Fighter base. He found it by having a gun pointed at him.

"Halt and give ze password, monsieur!"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Hey, 'Toine!" he said, suddenly behind the coyote, his gun in the hedgehog's hands. "How are tricks!"

"Sacre bleu!" Antoine Du'Cullotte cried. "'ow dare you embarrass me like zis! You, sir are not a gentleman!" He stuck his tongue out at Sonic.

"Oh yeah," Sonic said, rolling his eyes. "That's sure mature!"

"What's all the hoohah?" came a drawl. "Well ah do declare! Sonic! Been ages, sugahhog!" The half-robot rabbit gave Sonic a hug, which annoyed her husband.

"Hey, Bunny!" Sonic said. "Better quit that! Your hubby's liable to beat me up!"

"And do not zink I cannot, monsieur!" Antoine said. "Zat is, as soon as you give me back my sword!"

"Don't pick on mah husband, Sonic!" Bunny said. "Come on! Geoffrey wanted to see y'all as soon as y'all arrived, sugah!"

"Oh joy!" Sonic said as he followed them to a tree stump.

"Please to be turning ze head, oui?" Antoine said.

"Why would I want to do that?" Sonic demanded.

"Ze entrance to our headquarters is secret!" Antoine said. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Okay," Sonic said, putting his hand over his face. "I'm waiting!"

"Oh, sugah, we can trust li'l ol' Sonic!" Bunny said, flipping the switch. The tree stump opened, and Sonic followed Bunny and Antoine down a dimly lit tunnel.

"Reminds me of our days in Knothole Tunnels," Sonic said. "So, how you been, Bunny?"

"Can't complain, sugah!" Bunny said. "Guess these places are borin' to y'all after your trip to Earth and through the galaxy."

"Yeah, well, there's no place like home," Sonic said.

They finally reached a large warehouse-like building. Steel tubes ran along the walls high overhead. A catwalk led through a door into another area. Their footsteps echoed in the large, empty structure.

"Quite a place you got here," Sonic said, looking around.

"This was apparently some sort of scientific observation place once, sugah," Bunny said. "Least, that's what St. John says. Ah only know fighting and cosmetology." It was strange, looking at the rabbit, who was half machine, to think that she was a hairdresser by trade.

"Well, there you are," Hershey said. "Hello, Sonic. Geoffrey's in the observation room. I'm afraid he's not too happy, hearing that Princess Sally sent you."

"He's still mad that I technically outrank him, even though he's some sort of aristocrat?" Sonic asked. "Come on, Hershey. My uncle was Sir Charles the Hedgehog. He was the biggest hero of the last war."

"My husband is a proud man," Hershey said.

"Yeah, well I've had all I can take of snooty aristocrats!" Sonic said. "I take it from Amadeus Prower for Tails' sake, I'm not taking it from anybody else!"

"Then you can just turn and go your own way!" Geoffrey St. John said, striding into the room.

"Now, Geoffrey…" Hershey said, placing her hand on his shoulder.

"You're alone?" St. John said. "Don't think you need any bloke but yourself, eh?"

"Tails couldn't make it," Sonic said. "I don't need Amy chasing me all through this mission. And none of that is any of your business!"

"Now listen here, gov'nor," St. John said, "I'm in charge here, and I don't need no show boaters gumming up the works!"

"Men!" Bunny said. "Y'all ain't happy 'less y'all fightin'!"

That stopped Sonic. Hadn't that been how the whole horrible Metarex thing had begun? "Have you been able to get a message through to anybody inside the quarry?" he asked St. John.

"There's an old duck name of Plume we've been talking to ," St. John said. "But he's been sick lately. There's also a masked girl who's been running wild, wrecking things. We can't get a straight answer from her, though. She could ruin everything if we can't get her under control!"

"And you want me to get in there, and rein in this little wild filly, is that it?" Sonic said. "No problem! There isn't a stronghold I can't get in and out of! So, what do you have on our enemies?"

"It's mostly our old friends, Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts," Bunny said.

"It's…who?" Sonic asked. He placed his hand over his mouth. The others could hear snorting sounds.

'It's not funny!" St. John said.

"Scratch, Grounder, and Coconuts?!?" Sonic repeated. "I beat those guys up when I was eleven!"

"Yeah, well, they seem to have some help this time," St. John said. "We don't know how he survived, but take a look at this!" He led Sonic to a digital screen. He tried turning a few switches. The machine made weird noises and showed psychedelic color patterns.

"Here, hon," Hershey said. She soon had a clear picture.

Sonic had just started to laugh again when he saw the scene. A large, barn-like building had been smashed to pieces on one side. The ground there was burned. There were bodies. Sonic looked away in horror.

"What did this?" he demanded.

"Doctor Eggman's greatest creation," Bunny said softly. "The one that it took y'all everythin' you had to beat before, sugah!"

Hershey turned the controls again. An image appeared. It looked vaguely like Sonic, but it was mechanical. Sonic moaned.

"Metal Sonic!"


	2. Chapter 2

AFTER THE METAREX: SONIC'S STORY

Chapter Two

"A Mystery To Solve"

While Sonic and the others were discussing what to do, a small figure moved stealthily through the quarry. Masked, and wearing a heavy coat, the figure was quick and quiet. A close look might give the observer the information that the figure was female, but no one got that good a look. A flip over a low wall gave her the opportunity to sneak into the kitchen, which was currently occupied only by the constantly complaining Coconuts.

"Do this, do that! I got a brain too, ya know! But does anybody ever listen to Coconuts? Noooo!"

The girl waited until the monkey robot placed a large squash on a table, then went to get a knife. She took the squash, leaped onto the table, and placed it in the light fixture overhead. Then she dived for cover.

Coconuts returned, started to carve the table before he noticed. "Hey! Where's my squash?" He looked around. "Must be thieves around here!" He started jumping up and down in fury. This, of course, dislodged the squash, which came down on his head. "Ow! What's going on around here?!" He turned, stepped on the squash, and slid across the floor into the oven headfirst. Clang! He passed out on the floor.

"What a moron!" the girl muttered, stealing food. She left a note on the robot. "KICK ME." She jumped to the table, sprang out the window and over the wall, then raced to where the prisoners were being held.

"Here you go," she said in a hoarse voice, giving out the food to the children. Most of the food was given to the guards, while the prisoners received whatever the guards didn't want, which wasn't much.

"Bless you, my child," Mister Plume said.

"I wanna be just wike you when I bigger!" said a tiny mink about three or four.

"Sorry, honey," the girl said, patting her on the head, "but I'm hoping Robuttnik will be gone before you're that old." She took off, somersaulted over another wall, and was gone.

"Hey!" Grounder yelled at Coconuts. "Wake up, ya lazy good fer nothing!"

"Where am I?" Coconuts asked, shaking his head. "Oh yeah! A squash attacked me!"

"Your brain's a squash!" Grounder said. "Get back to work! If we don't feed the guards, they'll turn against us, and we can't expect _him_ to help us!" He ran over Coconuts' foot as he left.

"Ow! You idiot!" Coconuts yelled. He picked up a cantaloupe and threw it at the other robot. Crash! That was the sound of the window in the kitchen breaking. "Uh oh! I'd better figure out how to blame Grounder for that!"

"Sonic!" St. John called as the hedgehog was preparing to leave. "Remember, bloke, you're just to stop that troublemaker then get back here. We don't go up against Metal Sonic 'til we know what else we may be dealing with. You got me?"

"I know what I'm doing," Sonic said. "I've handled worse than Metal Sonic. Dark Oak would send you hiding under your bed, crying for Hershey to leave a night light on."

"Your sense of humor is as witty as ever," St. John said. "I don't scare."

"Anyone not afraid of Dark Oak didn't live long," Sonic said quietly, "and a lot that were scared still didn't make it." He turned and took off. Once near the quarry, he stopped and hid behind a cactus. He had been wanting to try this stuff out again, but hadn't had the opportunity in years.

Grounder was inspecting the diggers' work when he heard a knock at the only gate. "Yeah? What is it?'

"It's-a me, Mario!" Sonic was dressed with a big fake nose, a hat, a mustache, and bib overalls. "I come-a to fix your plumbing!"

"I don't remember anything about our having trouble with the plumbing," Grounder said, letting Sonic in. "I'm not even really sure where it is. I'm a robot!"

"Scuse-a please, I find it myself, a-thank you!" Sonic said, hurrying past the robot.

"Yeah, well don't be all day about it."

"Who were you talking to?" Scratch demanded, coming back from inspecting the mine at the far end of the compound.

"Mario the plumber," Grounder said. "He's here to fix the pipes."

"Well, that's good," Scratch said. "Wait a minute! Did the doctor send him? Hey! You can't just let anybody in here, you know!"

"Duh, do you think I should have made sure he doesn't do a lousy job, then overcharge us?" Grounder asked, scratching his head.

"Yeah, I think there's a good chance he might…" Scratch realized what he was saying. "Argh! You're an idiot!" He noticed the note. "Sounds good to me!" He kicked Grounder, then set off to look for the intruder.

Sonic came across a bunch of children eating. "Hey, kids," he said. "Can you tell me where I can find this girl that's been running wild around here?"

"Beat it," a badger said. "We ain't seen nobody!"

"Yeah," an ocelot agreed. "Who are you, anyway? And what's with the lame disguise?"

Sonic chuckled. These kids weren't any older than Cream, but they could tell he was wearing a disguise when Grounder couldn't. Man, what had Eggman been thinking, sending them against him?

"Seriously, guys, I need to find her. She could get in a lot of trouble, fighting Eggman when she doesn't know what she's doing!"

"Oh, working for Robuttnik, huh?" the badger said. "Let's get 'im, guys!"

Sonic was knocked down by about a dozen little boys and several little girls. One little white mink kept kicking him, and she kicked _hard_. Sonic remembered how Amy, Cream, and Cosmo had beaten up Knuckles. He had cried out for help, and Sonic had laughed at him. How _did_ you fight somebody you couldn't actually hurt? He decided the only answer was to make a run for it. The problem there was that he couldn't get on his feet without knocking several kids for a loop.

"Ow!" he cried. The little mink had just bitten his ankle. "Hey, stop that you little cannibal!"

The badger and ocelot had found rocks and started pelting Sonic with them. Luckily, all of the chaos energy he had absorbed over the years made him surprisingly tough. Otherwise, he'd've never survived the fall at the end of his first battle with Dark Oak.

"Hey!" came a voice he didn't recognize. "What's all the ruckus over there?"

"Ah, come on, you guys!" Sonic begged. "We're all on the same side! I want to beat Eggman more than anybody! Let me go!"

He could hear another voice. "I'm getting my gun!" Sonic was desperate now. But he couldn't, wouldn't, harm another child. Not like Cosmo. He had to get free. There was only one thing to do. He threw off his disguise. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!" he cried.

The kids all stopped and stared at him. Sonic grinned, thinking he'd gotten through to them. Then they all screamed and ran away.

"Hey!" Sonic said. "What's the deal? I ain't ugly!" But there was no time to dwell on their strange behavior. The voices were coming from just the other side of a tool shed to Sonic's right. He spun dashed to a watering trough, and ducked down. Two figures came around the corner. He didn't know either of them, but they sure were ugly.

"See anything, Dingo?" one asked. He was the one with the gun.

"Yeah, I see something, Sleet!" the bigger one said.

"Well, don't keep me in suspense, what is it?" the smaller one demanded, waving his gun about.

Dingo bent over. "I found a strawberry!" He picked it up off the filthy ground and stuffed it in his mouth. "Mm. Sweet!"

"Why do I bother?" Sleet said. "I don't know who's stupider, you or Grounder!"

"That's not nice, mate!" Dingo said. "Hey, a slice of orange! Yummy!"

"Have fun pigging out of garbage," Sleet said, walking away. "I'm going back to sleep--er, guard the prisoners!"

Sonic grinned. It was always fun messing with morons. He snuck back, got his disguise, put it back on, then said, "Hey, excuse-a please!"

"Who are you?" Dingo asked.

"I'm-a Mario," Sonic said. "I come to fix the plumbing, only the job, she's-a more complicated than I think. I go now to get my brother, Luigi! You tell-a the lawn mower guy who let me in I'll be back in the morning, okay?"

"Uh, sure," Dingo said. "Oo, a radish!"

Sonic hurried away. This guy was a little too stupid to even bother with. Now, where would a crazy, wild girl be in this place? He looked around. There was an old duck sifting dirt out of a pan. Maybe he could help. The guy didn't look good.

"Pst, gramps," Sonic said, suddenly behind him.

The old duck jumped and dropped his pan.

"Sorry," Sonic said. "Listen, I'm here to help. I'm Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"Really?" the old duck said. "And you've just now shown up here? Do you have any idea how long the children here have been working for that maniac?"

"I…had some trouble awhile back," Sonic said. Now wasn't the time to discuss his trip to Earth or into space. "I'm here now. I promise, I'll stop these guys. But I need to find this girl I've heard is shaking things up first. We can't have her getting in our way when things start jumping."

"If you mean our masked friend, I don't know anything about her except that she's fast and acrobatic," the duck said. "You may want to ask Sonia, though. She says she knows her."

"Sonia?" Sonic asked. "Where can I find her?"

"She's in solitary for causing trouble," the duck said. "I hope she's all right. It's awfully hot today, and the box has no ceiling. The sun shines right down on your head. You can't even get water in to her."

"Well, I can get to her," Sonic promised. He got directions to solitary, then gave the old duck a thumbs up. He started to take off, then said, "Oh, by the way…these kids ran off when I told them who I was. Any idea why?"

"They may have confused you with our captor," the duck said, getting back to work. "Most of them have been here half their lives. The only Sonic they know is Metal Sonic."

"Thanks, gramps," Sonic said. The old duck felt a strong breeze, then he was alone.

"Well, he's as fast as they say he is," Mister Plume muttered to himself. "Maybe he'll actually have a chance against Metal Sonic."

Sonic headed towards the brick building where prisoners were punished for insubordination. When he reached it, he ran straight up the wall. At the top, he looked down to see a girl laying on the floor. She looked bad. Sonic hurdled the wall, running around and around the building all the way down. He put on the brakes. "Hey," he said. "You okay?"

There was no response. He bent over and gently shook the figure. The head fell off. "What the…?" Then he realized it was a coconut shell. "A dummy!" he exclaimed. "How'd she get out of here?!?"

Suddenly, he heard fast running outside. Then someone cried out above him. "No! You!" Sonic looked up, but the figure was already gone. It had been a girl's voice, he was sure of that. Were they racing off to give an alarm, or had the mysterious person mistaken him for Eggman's robotic duplicate the same way the kids had. Sonic decided not to wait to find out. He ran back up the wall the way he had ran down, then leaped at the top. He turned several somersaults on his way down to break his fall, and landed like a ninja. He looked around. No sign of whoever had just ran from him.

Sonic knew that if he couldn't find the troublemaker, he should repeat back in. St. John would have kittens. But he had a mystery to solve now, and he wasn't leaving until he solved it. He put his disguise back on, then raced to the main building. If his observer worked for Metal Sonic, she'd go there.

"I don't want to hear any more about a squash beating you up!" Scratch was screaming at Coconuts. "We have enough trouble! Metal Sonic says he'll be here tonight, and he wants everything in tip-top condition! So snap to it!"

"Say, listen!" Grounder said. "I'm getting sick of you telling me what to do!"

"Oh yeah?" Scratch said, squirting ketchup in Grounder's face.

"Hey! Don't waste the food!" Coconuts cried.

"You stay out of this!" Scratch said, squirting Coconuts.

"Well, Larry, Moe, and Curly don't seem to have heard from her," Sonic mused to himself. He started to creep away, and came across a masked and robed figure, also listening to them.

"Bingo!" Sonic said to himself. He moved quickly, wrapping one arm around her and placing his other hand over her mouth. "Don't fight me!" he hissed. "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog! I've come to rescue you!"

But the masked figure elbowed him in the stomach, flipped him over her shoulder, and ran.

"Oh no you don't!" Sonic said, racing after her. He'd've caught her in a second, but suddenly, the kids were there again.

"He's after our friend!" the badger yelled. "Let's get 'im!" They all started pelting him with rocks.

"Ow!" Sonic cried. "Hey, quit it! I'm your friend! I'm trying to help!"

He ran from the kids, but they'd succeeded in their mission. The masked girl had vanished.

To be continued.

Sorry if this chapter is kind of zany, but I thought Sonic would enjoy annoying these guys. He's seeing this as a relief from the doom and gloom he's experiencing with Tails. Sonic needs the break, because Tails will be…but that would be telling! If you're really unhappy with the wackiness, just assume that Sonic is telling what happened later to his friends, and he's trying to make the story more interesting.


	3. Chapter 3

AFTER THE METAREX: SONIC'S STORY

Chapter Three

"Before the Fighting Starts"

"Where is that bloke?" St. John demanded, pacing the floor outside of the Freedom Fighters' headquarters. "He should have been back here by now!"

"Calm yourself, Geoffrey," Hershey said. "Sonic may be having trouble finding this girl."

"Zat 'edge'og, 'e is always trouble, oui?" Antoine chimed in.

"I knew it was a mistake getting him involved in this," St. John said. "Always showboating! Bunny! Any sign of our 'hero' yet?"

"Sorry, sugah," Bunny said, looking through the telescope. "No sign of anybody anywhere. Ah think maybe Sonic needs our help, gang!"

"Hah, always I am zinking he is not so good as his press secretary would have us believe, but no?" Antoine said.

"I don't know exactly what you just said, mate," St. John told him, "but if you're bad mouthing the blighter, I'm with you there." He stormed back inside. Just then, the radio crackled. "That better be him!" he said. "'ello?"

"This is Breezy," came a breathless voice. "I'm calling to confirm that Metal Sonic is away at this time. I just caught sight of him at the pier. He's having some of his bully boys load boxes onto a boat with Eggman's seal on it."

"Perfect!" St. John said. "At least somebody's doing their job around here! You and Honey come on in," he added. "We make our move on the compound today!"

"But what about Sonic?" Bunny asked once St. John had switched off the radio.

"'e made 'is bed, let 'im lay in it!" St. John said. "We don't need the likes of 'im!"

"Honey!" the robot called to a cat still watching Metal Sonic through a telescope. "St. John says we move on the quarry today!"

"Let's hope Metal Sonic is busy for awhile longer," Honey the Cat said. "From what I've heard, even Sonic the Hedgehog has had a lot of trouble with him."

The two girls rushed to their bikes. Machine engines, no matter how quiet, would be picked up by Metal Sonic's audial receptors, and he was bound to investigate.

After awhile, Breezy slowed down.

"You okay?" Honey asked.

"I'm not built for this!" Breezy wheezed. "I was made to seduce Sonic…and nothing else! That toad didn't even…give me any decent attacks! But don't worry about me! I'll show up…eventually!"

"You're sure you'll be okay?" Honey asked.  
Breezy grinned. It was a strange look on a robot's face. "Sure. Give my regards…to Sonic if you see him!" She slowed down some more.

"Listen," Honey said. "If you really can't go on, hide someplace and rest. Don't try to gut it out! They might catch you!"

"Honey, I don't have guts!" Breezy pointed out. She primped. "And the robot wasn't built yet…that can resist me!"

Honey rolled her eyes. "Well, if you're sure!" she said.

"Give 'em heck, girl!" Breezy said.

Honey went on alone. Ordinarily, she could have carried Breezy in the air. Although a cat, Honey had wings. But reconnoitering the day before, Honey had been shot down by one of the guards. Bunny had caught her, but Honey wouldn't be doing any flying for quite awhile. They made an odd pair, a robot and a winged cat. But it was precisely because they fit in nowhere that they had grown so close. Honey hoped Breezy would be all right.

Sonic looked everywhere for the masked girl. No sign of her. Blast it! He was already way behind schedule. "This mission is a bust!" he decided. He rushed back to the old duck.

"Listen, buddy," he hissed, "I'm going, but I'll be back with help! Tell all the kids to hide when they hear a whippoorwill's call! The fighting might get messy!"

"Be careful," the duck warned him. "Some of these children will want to join in the battle, and they won't take no for an answer!"

"Tell me about it!" Sonic said. His ankle still hurt from where that little mink had bitten him.

Deciding to cut his losses and run, Sonic raced back for the gate. He ran across a beam, leaped, and spun dashed over the wall. He landed ninja-style on the other side and took off back to the Freedom Fighters' headquarters. That girl was too reckless. She was going to get herself killed!

The masked girl ducked under a wagon to avoid being seen by Dingo. He'd told her she was cute once, which had completely freaked her out. He looked like…well, like he'd been beaten with an ugly stick. Once he passed, she ran for the box. She scaled it again. She didn't know what else to do. If Metal Sonic had noticed that the girl in there that was supposed to be her was just a dummy, then it would be suicide to go back in and play stupid. But so far nobody else seemed to know she was loose. Was he keeping it a secret from everyone for some reason? The dummy seemed undisturbed. She leaped back down, then examined the lock. She took out a bunch of keys from her pocket and tried each of them. No luck. So she picked up a rock and smashed the lock. Then she threw the door open. There. Metal Sonic might figure out who she was, but the others would just assume that she'd been rescued by the masked girl. She considered making a run for it, but there were too many other prisoners. She couldn't help everyone escape by herself, and she wouldn't leave Mister Plume or little Glow. So the only thing left to do was to hide and wait. Maybe something would occur to her eventually.

Sonic returned to Freedom Fighter headquarters just as the others were preparing to leave.

"Took your own blinking time there, mate!" St. John said to Sonic. "So did you…what the devil? What's with the Halloween costume?"

"It'sa me, Mario!" Sonic said. "Oh, right. You wouldn't get that if you'd never been to Earth!" He started to remove his costume, embarrassed that he was still wearing it.

"Nice to know you take your work so seriously, you have time for dress up!" St. John said. "Where's that girl you were sent to find? Don't tell me you forgot what you were doing, and just decided to party?"

"Okay, I won't," Sonic said. "What's going on? Why are you all armed?"

"We go to ze battle, mon ami!" Antoine said. "Metal Sonic, he is away now! We move in like ze shadows, zen move out like ze wind!"

"There are little kids in there, 'Toine!" Sonic pointed out. "They could get hurt in the fighting!" Or worse than hurt, Sonic couldn't help but think. Green hair with pink flower buds came to his mind. Would her ghost haunt him forever, just like it was haunting poor Tails?

"Sometimes sacrifices have to be made, mate," St. John said. He was wearing a belt with six guns in it. "It's all for the greater good."

"All those guns you guys have," Sonic said, looking around. "I don't want to kill anybody!"

"Sugah," Bunny said softly, "y'all trying to fight the good fight and have the big happy ending, we know. But sometimes the only happy ending is that the horror stops. We don't want to sink to Eggman's level, but sometimes…"

"I don't like it either," Hershey said, although Sonic noticed she had a gun as well. "Geoffrey, promise me you won't shoot anyone unless you have to."

"We'll see," St. John told her.

"St. John, Antoine," Sonic said in a cold voice. "You kill anybody…I don't want to find any holes in their backs."

"Mon dieu!" Antoine cried. "You dare to accuse us of such vulgarity?!?" He took off his glove and slapped Sonic's face. "Monsieur, I shallenge you to ze duel"

"Don't be stupid," Sonic said. His sense of humor was fading fast. "Let me at least go in first and try to minimize any damages."

"We already tried that," St. John reminded him. "You blew it, bloke! Now we do things _my_ way! But don't worry, I don't shoot people in the back, no matter what you might think of me!"

"St. John!" Honey raced up, breathless. "Ready to deploy, sir!"

"Honey?!" Sonic cried. "Good grief! Haven't seen you in years!" He noticed her bandaged wing. "You okay there?"

"I'm grounded for a few weeks," Honey said. "But I'm okay. Nice to see you again, Sonic." She turned back to St. John. "Breezy will be along when she can. Eggman apparently didn't build her very efficiently."

"Breezy?!?" Sonic said. He blushed. She had been built to seduce him, and had done her job very well. Sonic had made a fool of himself because of her, much to Tails' disgust. Tails hadn't liked girls then. Maybe it would have been better if he'd stayed that way.

"How _is_ Breezy?" Sonic asked. She had left him saying that she hoped they'd meet again one day, after she'd decided what her purpose for existing was.

"She'll be sorry she missed you," Honey said. "She's always talking about you."  
Sonic turned away. He hadn't thought of Breezy since before he'd gone to Earth, but she had never forgotten him. How many other girls had he hurt over the years?

"Try going down memory lane on your own time, Hedgehog!" St. John said. "We move out…now!"

"You're not my boss!" Sonic said. "You can't keep up with me, and you can't make me wait for you!" He took off back to the quarry.

"You'll pay for this!" St. John said, shaking his fist at Sonic. "I'll report you for insubordination!"

"Geoff, he's already gone, dear," Hershey said.

"Then let's follow the fool!" St. John said. And the Freedom Fighters started towards the quarry.

"Metal Sonic!" one of the workers called. "The Master wishes to speak with you!"

Metal Sonic froze. That fat fool! What did he want now? He took his time walking to the monitor. "Metal Sonic speaking."

"Well, well," Doctor Eggman said, "you certainly took your time answering me! Probably the slowest you've ever been since I built you!"

"How may I be of service?" Metal Sonic forced himself to say.

"Ho ho ho!" Eggman laughed. "You'd like to kill me, wouldn't you, my metallic friend? But you can't, can you? You can't do anything against my commands! Bokkun! Tell him why!"

Bokkun's face crowded the screen. "It's 'cause you're a loser! Loser!" He stuck his tongue out. "Nya nya nya nya nya nya!"

"That's enough!" Eggman said, slamming Bokkun headfirst into the wall. "Okay, now get this, and get this good! By hacking into the Freedom Fighter's main computer, which hasn't been updated in months because poor widdle Miles Prower is going **coo-coo**, I, your ingenious Master, with the incredible I.Q. of 300, have discovered that, contrary to expectations…"

"Is there a point to this?" Metal Sonic demanded.

"How rude!" Eggman said. "What I've been trying to tell you is that Sonic the Hedgehog has been sent to the quarry. So get back there and bring me his head! Eggman out!"

"Yes…Master!" Metal Sonic said, smashing the screen.

"Boss, shall I organize the troops to return to the quarry?" his lieutenant asked.

"No, that will not be necessary," Metal Sonic said, brushing the broken tv circuits from his metallic hand. "See to it that shipping to Doctor Eggman continues uninterrupted. The Freedom Fighters are all weaklings except Sonic. Our agents at the quarry will be quite enough to handle them. And I shall deal with my doppleganger myself!"

Metal Sonic raced back to the quarry. "After Sonic is dead, I will force Miles Prower and Nicole to free my from my programming! Then I, Metal Sonic, will conquer the flesh creatures, and build my machine empire on the foundations of flesh and blood and bone!"

Hundreds of miles away, in an old house in the woods, a pink hedgehog struggled vainly against the ropes that bound her.

"Where's Vector?!" she screamed. "Where's Espio? Or Charmy? I'm hungry! Did they just forget about me? Vector _would_ do that!" She started sobbing.

"Sonic!" she screamed. "Sonic! Come and find me! You've always saved me sooner than this! I don't like it in this place! It's dark and it's scary! And I'm all alone! Sonic, I thought you'd always be there for me! Sonic! Baka baka baka! SONIC!!!"

But no one heard her.

Next time, can Sonic and the others free Eggman's prisoners before Metal Sonic arrives? And why is the robot so sure that he can beat Sonic? Two more chapters to go!


	4. Chapter 4

AFTER THE METAREX: SONIC'S STORY

Chapter Four

"Getting Together"

Sonic had no trouble getting back inside. Grounder rolled past him, mumbling to himself, but didn't even look Sonic's way. Apparently, Metal Sonic hadn't wanted anyone around him smart enough to challenge his authority.

Sonic made his way back to solitary confinement. The door was wide open. Those two ugly guys, Sleet and Dingo, were staring at the door.

"Uh, Sleet," Dingo said, scratching his head. "Is that door supposed to be open?"

"Of course it is!" Sleet said, pushing Dingo in and slamming the door behind him. "That way I don't have to look at you anymore!"

But since the lock was broken, Dingo just pushed it open. "That wasn't funny!" Dingo said. He picked Sleet up and tossed him in. Then he closed the door on him. "Now that's funny!"

Sonic put his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing. As he started to sneak off, however, Dingo yelled. "Hey! Who are you?"

"Uh…I'm-a Luigi! My brother Mario, he call me in to fix the plumbing. Said she's busted!"

"Oh yeah," Dingo said. "You don't look much like your brother."

"Yeah, that'sa what they all say! I see you later!" Sonic took off.

"Who are you talking to, dimwit?" Sleet demanded, pushing the door open.

"The plumber's brother," Dingo said. "What's wrong with the loo, anyway?"

"You're a numbskull!" Sleet said. "That was an intruder! Sound the alarm while I get my gun!"

Sonic whizzed about the camp, stopping at every hiding place to make sure the coast was clear. He passed the kitchen, where he saw Scratch and Coconuts arguing about something. He shouldn't have to worry about them for a bit. He decided to track down the old duck. Maybe he'd heard something from the masked girl.

As luck would have it, the masked girl had just been speaking to old Mister Plume. As she stepped out of the little tool shed they'd met in, Sonic noticed her.

"Hey!" he yelled. She started to run. "Not this time, you don't!"

Sonic chased the girl through the compound. He couldn't put on any real speed without risking crashing right through buildings and possibly injuring someone, and she knew the layout much better than he did, so it was difficult keeping up with her.

"I don't believe this!" St. John said once the Freedom Fighters reached the only gate of the quarry. "That blighter didn't even open the door for us!" He put his pistol away, and took out a rocket launcher.

"Too much noise, Geoff," Hershey said, putting her hand on his shoulder. "We're trying to be sneaky here. Bunny? Can you stretch over the wall?"

"I'll try, sugah," Bunny said. She extended her mechanical legs, then stretched out her robotic arm. She could get her arm over the top, but couldn't feel anything but the other side of the wall. "There's nothing for me to get a grip on!"

"Let me try," Honey said. She started to unfasten the bandages on her injured wing.

Sonic jumped over a rake the masked girl had tossed at him, dodged under the watering trough, and hurdled the old tree stump in front of him. The girl ran for a building and started to run up the side. Sonic followed her. At the top of the building, she staggered a little. While she was regaining her footing, Sonic finally caught up to her.

"Okay," Sonic said, "enough is enough!" He grabbed the girl and pulled her mask off. He froze. "A-Anita?!?"

"Onichan?" she cried. "You're my brother?!" Then, to his shock, she slapped his face.

"Wha-what did you do that for?" he demanded.

"How long has it been?" she asked. "Three years? Four? The legendary champion of the chaos emeralds. The fastest thing alive. So why did it take you so long to find your own little sister?!?"

"I…I'm here now," Sonic said helplessly. He shook his head. "Come on! I gotta get you out of here! The Freedom Fighters are about to raid the place! I don't want you getting shot!"

Sonic grabbed his sister's arm. She pulled away from him. "I'm not leaving! There are a lot of children here! I don't want any of them getting hurt!"

"I can protect them once I'm sure you're safe," Sonic promised. His blood ran cold. He'd made that promise to Cosmo, and look what he'd ended up doing to her!

"No!" Sonic said. "Not again! Never again!"

"What are you talking about?" Anita asked, giving him a strange look. Had he spoken out loud?

"I swear," Sonic said to her, "no more deaths! Nobody else dies while I'm alive!"

"Did you lose someone?" Anita asked. "Rosey the Rascal? That little dweeb with two tails that everybody used to pick on?"

"Someone I met last year," Sonic said. "And that dweeb is now my best friend, and mourning his girl friend's death. But that's for later. Right now, we have to…ow!" The little mink had found Sonic and Anita, and assumed her friend was in danger. Her teeth were like needles in Sonic's ankle.

"It's okay, Glow," Anita said, "this is my brother!"

"Really?" the little mink said. She turned her head from side to side. Sonic felt like he was being analyzed. The little girl's eyes were green. Not like his or Anita's, but a weird, phosphorescent green.

"Do you still pick your nose?" the little girl asked. Sonic glared at his sister.

"You try being locked in a room for days on end, and see if you don't spill your guts to whoever will talk to you," Anita said, shrugging.

"Anita, you're not helping," Sonic said.

"Her name's Sonia!" the mink insisted.

"Yeah, um, I've been going by that name," Anita said. "I didn't want any of the guards to know who I am. If they found out my brother's Sonic the Hedgehog…"

"Yeah, I get it," Sonic said. "Where'd you come up with the name Sonia? Take it from me?"

"It's my middle name…duh!" Anita said. "I realized after I gave it that it was too close to Sonic, but I couldn't take it back then. I think everybody just assumed I was naming myself after you because of hero worship or something."

"You used to practically worship the ground I walked on," Sonic remembered. "Drove me nuts!"

"Short trip," Anita said. "Now let's get moving! We can reminisce later!"

Sonic sputtered. Was she telling _him_ how to fight Eggman?

Sonic found himself following his sister through the compound. "Um, where are we going, exactly?"

"First off," Anita told him, "we have to get the kids ready to run when we give the word. Let me do the talking. They're all so scared of Metal Sonic, they won't listen to a word you say."

"Gwow not scared of Metalhead!" Glow said, clinging to Anita. She looked over at Sonic and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Cute kid," Sonic said sarcastically. "Listen, the best way, I think, for us to move everybody out of here would be in the mine cars."

"Great idea," Anita said. "That's exactly where Metal Sonic is when he's not here! So we save the kids from Sleet and Dingo and Scratch and Grounder, and send them right to Metal Sonic! Your elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor, does it?"

Sonic sputtered. Anita used to be crazy about him. Now she was a rude snot!

"So then, what _do_ we do?" Sonic asked.

"You stay here and stand guard," Anita said, stopping in front of a small wooden building. "I'll get the girls first. They're easier to reason with than boys!"

"That's 'cause boys are coo-coo!" Glow said firmly. She stuck her tongue out at Sonic again.

Anita came out a few minutes later. She was followed by eight girls. They all squealed in horror when they saw Sonic.

"No no!" Anita said. "This is Sonic the Hedgehog! He's here to destroy Metal Sonic!"

"Um…hi, girls!" Sonic said. Five of them looked unconvinced. One stuck her tongue out at him. One ignored him. And the last started giggling. "What's so funny?" he asked. He wasn't wearing his plumber outfit anymore.

"You look like a girl!" she said. "You need a haircut!"

"Great," Sonic said. Nothing like insults to boost his ego.

"Let's move out!" Anita said. They moved to another small building. "Try to stay out of the way, onichan! Boris and Harvey might want to pick fights with you."

"Let me guess," Sonic said. "One's a badger, the other's an ocelot."

"Ah, if you're all old friends, it should be easier!" Anita said. She stuck her tongue out at him, then went inside.

Anita was in there longer. Sonic could hear a voice say, "How do we know we can trust this guy?"

"He's my brother! Do you trust me?" Good ol' Anita. He guessed she still loved him after all. "Don't worry. I can get him to do anything I like!" Or maybe not.

The boys looked at Sonic like he was some sort of roach they'd like to step on. What had they been telling these kids about him? Well, it didn't matter. They had to get moving!

"'Here, now, what's all this?" came a voice. The children squealed as Dingo stepped out from around the next building. Right behind him was Sleet with a shot gun.

"Well, well, Dingo, look what we've found!" Sleet pointed his shot gun at Sonic.

"Honey, are you sure you can handle this?" Hershey asked the other cat.

"I have to try," Honey said, removing the bandages from her injured wing. "If I can just fly over the wall and open the door so the guards don't hear you knocking the door down, it'll be worth it." She spread her wings. The injured one didn't want to cooperate.

"Honey, please!" Hershey said, as Honey flapped her bad wing experimentally. "You could damage it permanently! You might never fly again!" Honey winced, but started towards the gate anyway.

Honey let out a whimper as she flew over the wall. She landed heavily, scraping her left knee. Now she probably wouldn't be able to run either! Once inside, she checked the lock. Too difficult to break it. She wasn't good at picking locks, either. She checked the other side of the door. One of the pins was loose. She worked on it, and got it out. Then she started work on the others. The door hadn't been properly taken care of, since Metal Sonic and Sleet were the only two that weren't morons, and they left the work to stupid subordinates. Once she had two pins open, she was able, with St. John's help, to tilt the door enough for Bunnie to stretch her mechanical arm inside and remove the final pin.  
"Watch the door!" St. John said. Honey jumped out of the way, and the others pushed the door open.

"So far, so good!" St. John said. "Wonder where that blasted Sonic is. Well, can't wait for 'im! Let's move, people!"

Sonic spun dashed into Sleet, grabbing the gun, and pointing it straight up. Bang! He punched the ugly guy out. Sonic didn't have Knuckles' muscles, but few Mobians could take a punch to the jaw from Sonic the Hedgehog. Sleet wasn't one of them. He folded like an accordian.

That left Dingo. Sonic hit him next. Unfortunately, Dingo _was_ one of the few Mobians that could take a punch to the jaw from Sonic. "That hurt, mate!" Dingo yelled. "'ere, 'ave one of mine!" He punched Sonic back. The two of them traded blows for awhile. Dingo was pretty much solid muscle, including between his ears, and his head was like concrete. He started wobbling, but still wouldn't go down.

Anita pushed past her brother. She made a flying leap, catching Dingo under the chin. He finally fell.

"We make a good team, little sister!" Sonic said.

"Save the congratulations until we're all out of here!" Anita said. "Did you open the gate?"

"I thought that might attract attention," Sonic said. "It would be better to get these kids out of here first."

"We can take care of ourselves!" the badger said. "We handled _you_, didn't we?"

"Look," Sonic said seriously, "I'm the only one around that can beat Metal Sonic. It's not going to be an easy victory, though, and I can't be worrying about you guys while I'm fighting him."

"Sonia!" Mister Plume came running up. He was out of breath.

"What is it?" Anita asked. "Calm down and catch your breath. Are you okay?"

"I just overheard…he's coming! He's on the road! Metal Sonic!"

The kids, including the brats, all huddled together at the news.

"If he's on the road, he'll probably catch anyone trying to leave through the gate," Anita said. "His scanners can pick up a fly from a mile away!"

"The only other way is through the mine tunnel," Mister Plume offered. "And the pirates will be there waiting for us."

"We can handle anybody else," Anita said. "Metal Sonic's the only really dangerous one, and my big brother's ready for him! Let's get to the mine tunnel!"

St. John, Hershey, Antoine, Bunny, and Honey, unaware of what was going on at the other end of the compound, soon came upon the kitchen. Grounder had joined Scratch and Coconuts' argument.

"I'm sick of taking orders from you guys!" Coconuts was yelling. "I'm smarter than both of you put together! You should obey me!"

"Ah, shut up!" Grounder said, running over Coconuts' foot.

"You shut up!" Scratch yelled, hitting Grounder.

"Fire in the hold!" St. John said, pulling the pin of a smoke grenade with his teeth and tossing it into the broken window.

"Hey, what's that?" Grounder asked. "Fireworks? I love fireworks!"  
"It's a smoke bomb, you moron!" Coconuts cried.

"We're under attack!" Scratch screeched.

"Hit 'em 'ard, mates!" St. John yelled, leaping through the window. He grabbed Scratch by the comb on his head and slammed him into the wall. As the rooster bounced off the wall, the skunk grabbed him and fell to the floor, flipping Scratch high into the air and against the far wall.

Bunny extended her mechanical arm, knocking Grounder over. "Ah'm sorry this'll hurt, sugah!" she said as she leaped onto the robot. She pulled open his control panel and yanked out a handful of wires. Grounder shut down.

Antoine, not wanting to be made to look like a coward and a buffoon yet again, decided he couldn't possibly have trouble with Coconuts. "Come here, monsieur," he said, "zis will only hurt a moment!"

With a squeal, Coconuts was on Antoine's head. "Oh yeah!" the monkey robot yelled, jumping up and down on Antoine's noggin. "Well take this! And that! And this! And…"

But Coconuts hadn't taken into consideration a simple fact: a coward, when forced to fight, cares about nothing but saving himself. Antoine completely freaked out. He started bashing Coconuts with the handle of his sword. "Get off! 'elp! 'e is killing me!" He ran around the kitchen in circles, finally running into the wall. As Coconuts fell off of him, Antoine stomped on him with his boots. "Save me!" he cried. "Save me somebody! I don't want to die!"

"'Toine," Bunny cried, pulling him off of the monkey. "It's all right! You beat him!"

"I-I did?!?" Antoine cried, completely shocked. He grinned. "But of course! Foolish popinjay! To zink you could stand up to Antoine Du'Cullote!" He sheathed his sword. "Hmf!"

"Alright, mates," St. John said. "Let's finish this! Bunny! You and Antoine, go left! Hershey, Honey and I will go right! We'll meet at the mine entrance! Now let's move out!"

St. John, Hershey, and Honey passed Sleet and Dingo. "The 'edge'og's finally done something right on this mission!" St. John said begrudgingly.

"They're so…ugly!" Hershey said.

"Those poor children must have nightmares about those two!" Honey agreed.

They started past Dingo. Suddenly, they heard a gun click.

"That will be far enough!" Sleet said. He was back on his feet, leaning against the door of a building. "Now why don't you three put your hands up nice and slowly!"

"Don't worry, girls," St. John said, as they raised their hands. "I can take him!"

"Geoffrey, no!" Hershey hissed.

St. John braced himself. And then…

Bang! The door Sleet was standing in front of flew open, knocking him against the wall.

"I made it, guys!" Breezie cried. Then she noticed Sleet behind the door. "Oh dear! Oh, the poor man! I've completely disfigured his face!"

"No, he already looked like that!" St. John said. "Nice save, girl!"

"Thank you, kind sir!" Breezie said, bouncing up and down as she realized she'd taken down a killer.

"Stop bouncing!" Hershey said. "Geoffrey! Don't look at her when she's bouncing!"

"Oh, grow up, Hershey!" St. John said. "Let's move! We still have to free the children before Metal Sonic arrives!"

They had no idea that Sonic and his sister were already leading the children into the mine. There were three empty mine cars. Anita got the children to crowd into two of them, leaving one for her and any Freedom Fighter that might show up to make a last minute escape if necessary.

Anita placed the badger in charge of the first car, and the ocelot in charge of the second. She put Glow in the first car. Mister Plume climbed tiredly into the second.

"Be careful, Sonia," he said. He looked at Sonic. "We all love this gal, Mister Sonic. Please don't let anything happen to her."

"Hey, she's my sister!" Sonic said, putting an arm around her. "No problemo!" He gave them all a thumbs-up. Glow gave him a raspberry.

"Let's wait until this is over to pat ourselves on the back!" Anita said, ducking out of Sonic's grasp. "Now get going!" she said. "I'll be right behind you!"

"Are you sure this is a good idea, sending the kids and an old man off to where the pirates are alone?" Sonic demanded.

"Don't worry," Anita assured him. "Boris is super strong, and Harvey can shoot fireworks from his hands. They don't hurt much, but they're pretty blinding. And Glow is…"

"Right behind you!" Sonic said.

"Glow?!?" Anita cried. "What are you doing back here?"

The little mink threw her arms around Anita. "Gwow help Anita!" She looked at Sonic. "Not Metal Sonic look coo-coo!"

"Very nice kid!" Sonic said. "Get in the last car, Anita. I don't want you getting hurt."

"I'm not afraid of Metal Sonic!" Anita said.

"Then you've lost it," Sonic said. "I've fought him. He's as tough as me, only completely ruthless!"

"There you are!" St. John yelled, as the Freedom Fighters burst into the old mine. "I see you finally did something right, clearing out the kids!"

"What did you expect?" Anita demanded. "He's Sonic the Hedgehog!" Well, at least she was loyal in front of people who insulted him.

Of course, Glow wasn't. "He's coo-coo!" she said, pointing at Sonic.

"Ah, ma petite, zat is what I 'ave been saying for years!" Antoine said, patting her head. She bit his hand. "Yee-ouch! You little cannibal!" He tried to pull free. She held on like a pitbull.

"Antoine!" Bunny cried. "Leave the poor little girl alone, you big bully!"

"But my love, she has ze bite of ze piranha!" Antoine wailed.

"Glow!" Anita cried. "Bad girl!"

Suddenly, they heard an explosion. Then another. "They're coming this way!" St. John said. "It must be Metal Sonic!" He pulled out his rocket launcher.

"You wouldn't stand a chance against him," Sonic insisted. "Leave him to me! Just get my sister to safety…please!"

"Your sister!" the Freedom Fighters yelled.

"Anita Sonia Parlouzer, at your service!" Anita said. "Now let's roll out!"

"I am in charge here!" St. John said. "I say when we leave!"

There was another explosion, this one just outside of the mine.

"All right!" St. John said. "We go!"

"Great to see you again, Breezie!" Sonic said, as he helped her into the mine car.

"It's been so long, my pretty one!" Breezie said. "You have grown so tall and so handsome!"

"And you're still…beautiful!" Sonic said. He shook his head. "But there's no more time to waste!" He helped Hershey and Honey into the car.

"Anita! Come on!" Sonic said. He helped his sister into the car. Then he bent over to pick up Glow.

Munch! "Ahh! Anita!" Sonic yelled.

"Not so loud, you great fool!" St. John said.

"Come on, honey!" Anita said. "We're going on a mine ride."

"Did you call me?" Honey asked.

"What?" Anita asked.

"Sorry, my name's Honey," the cat explained.

"Antoine," St. John said. "Sit down and stop flexing your muscles, mate!"

"But I crushed ze little monkey like an eggshell!" Antoine said proudly.

"Quiet!" Sonic yelled. They listened. There was the sound of heavy, clanging, mechanical footsteps.

"Go! Go! Go!" Sonic cried. St. John pulled a switch, and the last mine car moved through the mine. Sonic knew his enemy could easily catch up to it, though, if he let him. Sonic braced himself.

A figure moved towards him. A mechanical voice spoke. "So, my doppleganger! We meet again…for the final time!"

"_You're_ the doppleganger!" Sonic said, rubbing his thumb across his nose. "_I'm_ the real deal!"

"So we shall see," Metal Sonic said. "NOW!"

Next time, the final chapter! Sonic versus Metal Sonic!


	5. Chapter 5

AFTER THE METAREX: SONIC'S STORY

Chapter Five

"Metal Sonic and the Pirates"

"You'll hurt these people over my dead body!" Sonic said.

"That is how I prefer it," Metal said. "Prepare for your annihilation, outdated prototype!"

"He's nuttier than a fruitcake!" Sonic thought, as he prepared himself. This tin can still thought he was the real deal, and Sonic was the copy! He heard the ignition of Metal Sonic's jets. "Bring it on, Freak!" he yelled.

And Metal Sonic brought it on.

Sonic barely dodged a circular saw spin dash. Metal Sonic stretched out his arms, trying to swat his opponent. Sonic jumped about wildly, ducking and weaving.

Metal Sonic did a homing attack. Sonic was knocked into the wall of the mine. Metal Sonic had been built to be Sonic's equal, but not to stay that way. His most horrible power was the ability to scan and copy abilities of others. The robot had once scanned Knuckles. So not only was Metal Sonic as fast as Sonic, he was also considerably stronger.

Sonic thought about the fake chaos emerald he was carrying with him. It was maybe good for one or two more uses before it lost its power. He decided to save it until he really needed it. He wished the Master Emerald would heal so that he could use the real thing.

Hundreds of miles away on Angel Island, Knuckles suddenly sneezed. He looked over at the Master Emerald. It was now in seven pieces. He guessed that it's regeneration was maybe half finished.

"Hey!" Boris the Badger yelled. "What is that supposed to be?" He pulled a switch stopping the mine car. There was another, smaller mine cart right in the way. An ugly old human woman, holding a broom, sat in it.

"Hee hee hee hee!" she cackled. "Children for my witches' brew!"

"What are you, a great loon?" Boris demanded. "Get out of the way, Granny!" He rolled up the sleeves of his red t-shirt. "Or I'll move you out of the way!"

"Stand back, whippersnapper!" the old hag yelled, rolling up the sleeves of her long black gown. "Nobody talks like that to ol' Wendy! I'll turn ye into crystal, says I!"

"That's it!" Boris said, climbing out of the cart. "Old lady or no old lady, I'm gonna punch you in that great beak of a nose of yours!"

"Hey!" Harvey the Ocelot yelled, stopping his cart before he ran into Boris'. "What's the holdup? Got scared of the dark?"

"More children for my brew!" Wendy cackled. "Higgity, piggity, hystal, turn these brats into crystal!"

The children froze. Three girls grabbed each other and wailed. A boy threw himself out of the cart and cried for his mother.

Tiny pieces of crystal shot out of the old witch's hands. One hit Boris. "Ow!" he yelled. "I'll knock your block off for that!" He rushed at Wendy, who put her mine cart in operation and took off.

"So long, suckers!" she laughed.

"That was blinkin' weird!" Boris said. He noticed the boy cringing on the floor of the mine. "Get up, Billy. Any chance you had to be a hero is long gone!"

"Sorry," Billy said, blushing as he climbed back into the cart to the giggling of several girls.

Further back in the mine, Anita pulled on her break. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Crazy old coot thinks she's a witch!" Harvey said. "Boris chased her off though. We're movin' again!"

"Ah remember Tails talkin' about an old witch he ran into once in a mine," Bunny said. "Ah thought he locked her away or something'."

"King Elias is always setting criminals free," St. John said. "And I don't like running. Who does that Sonic think he is, telling me to run from an opponent?"

"If my brother doesn't think you can fight him, he's probably right," Anita said.

"Ah'm pretty powerful myself, sugah," Bunny said. "But the one time ah tried fightin' Metal Sonic, he nearly made rabbit stew out of me! And ah'm sure Robotnik's updated him since then!"

Sonic leaped at his metallic duplicate. Metal Sonic waved his hands in front of himself in a diamond pattern. "Black shield!" he yelled. A glowing field appeared in front of him. Sonic bounced off of it.

"You cannot win, flesh creature!" Metal Sonic declared. "I can do anything you can, but you cannot do everything I can!"

"I wouldn't want to!" Sonic said, combing back a spine that had fallen over his left eye with his hand. "If you _are_ me, you're the part I wish I could purge from my soul!" He grinned mirthlessly. "Maybe I can do that now!" Sonic leaped into the air and went into a super peel out. He struck Metal Sonic front the front, left, back, left, right, back, left, front, and right. Metal Sonic was smart, but he was still a machine. Sonic was hoping that he could confuse his opponent by not following any patterns. This meant he couldn't try the same technique or trick twice on him.

Metal Sonic made a noise like a freight train derailing. "Let me show you what I can do now!" he cried, holding his metallic hands out towards Sonic. "Turn Sonic into Crystal!" Sonic prepared to jump or dodge, whatever would be necessary, for this next attack. He wasn't expecting little pieces of metal to come shooting towards him.

"What was that?" Sonic demanded, snorting. "You reduced to throwing rocks now?"

Metal Sonic looked at his hands. "That old witch lied to me!" he cried. "She said she had great powers, so I scanned her! She'll pay for…oooof!" Sonic had spin dashed his enemy while the robot was ranting.

Metal Sonic let out a low whining noise. "Aw, don't cry, buddy!" Sonic said, although he knew that sound wasn't anything to laugh about. It meant that Metal Sonic was about to use his Ring Spark Field. Sonic braced himself, but he was still hit by the electrical attack. All of the lights in the mine started to shut down.

"I'll roast you alive!" Metal Sonic said.

"You blinkin' won't!" St. John cried, suddenly showing up and firing his rocket launcher. He missed, but the distraction gave Sonic time to react. He leaped at Metal Sonic. Again, he did the unexpected. He danced on the robot's head for several seconds, then put all of his strength into kicking Metal Sonic upside the head. The robot went down.

"Get out of here!" Sonic yelled at the skunk. "He hasn't gone into Maximum Overdrive yet!"

But St. John reloaded and blasted the robot. He didn't even damage the paint job.

Metal Sonic's arm shot out and grabbed St. John by the throat. "Analysis: Geoffrey St. John. Once leader of a pathetic group of losers. Now Princess Sally Acorn's lackey."

"I ain't no bloke's lackey, you blasted metal ape! Put me down, before I get a can opener and see how long you stay fresh inside that can!"

"Attempts at humor are pointless," Metal Sonic said. "I have no sense of humor."

"You have no sense, period, buddy!" Sonic said. "Now let St. John go! It's _me_ you want!"

"But I can cause you great emotional street by destroying those you care for," Metal Sonic said.

"Then you're wasting your time," Sonic said, "'cause I don't care what you do to stripes there!"

"Same to you!" St. John yelled.

"But perhaps there are others that you _do_ care for?" Metal Sonic asked. "Perhaps…the little masked girl, who goes by the name of Sonia. Or should I say, Anita Sonia Parlouzer?"

"You stay away from my sister!" Sonic said.

"Here!" Metal Sonic yelled, tossing St. John at Sonic. "Take him!"

Sonic caught the skunk, expecting Metal Sonic to attack while he was busy. Instead, the robot turned and ignited his jets. He shot off into the mine.

"NO!" Sonic yelled. He raced after the robot.

When the lights went out, the children started squealing.

"Anita! Do something!" came a girls' voice in the dark.

"I can't see a thing!" Boris yelled.

"I want my mommy!" Billy cried.

"Glow!" Anita said. "We need light, honey!"

Glow's green eyes began to glow. The glow seemed to spread out, until the little mink was as bright as a hundred watt bulb. "I do good?" she asked Anita.

"You're doing great!" Anita said, climbing out of the cart. "I need to get you in the front cart, though, so they can see where they're going! Can one of you take over?"

"But of course!" Antoine said. "I will…"

"I'll take over!" Hershey said. "With Geoffrey back there, I'm next in command."

"But…ze little monkey I beat…" Antoine said.

"I'll leave you guys to take care of Mister Humble," Anita said, taking Glow to the front cart.

Harvey set off fireworks. They helped a little, but the odor of sulfur in a closed in area made several of the children dizzy.

Anita climbed into the front cart, then picked up glow. "Okay," she said. "Let's get out of here!"

Sonic cursed. Metal Sonic could see in the dark. He couldn't. He wasn't going to be able to catch him before the robot attacked the last cart. The one with his sister in it. At least, that was what Sonic thought at the time.

Metal Sonic's eyes could be seen in the darkness. "Here he comes!" Honey cried. "And I can't fly anybody out of here!"

"Now I lay me down to sleep…" Antoine said.

"Let's give the kids time to escape, sugahs!" Bunny cried, activating her machine gun attachment in her arm. "Make him know he was in a fight!"

"Well, hello, tall dark and handsome!" Breezie said as Metal Sonic reached them. "You're the best looking li'l robot I've ever seen! What's your name, Tiger?"

"I am Metal…what?" Metal Sonic said. He had expected them to attack or run or plead for mercy. He hadn't expected this!

"I've been looking for a big, stwong, handsome robot," Breezie said, starting to bounce again. "I like you! Do you like Breezie?"

"Well, we've only just met," Metal Sonic said, "and I…Wait a minute! Scanning!"

"Oo, are you scanning little ol' me?" Breezie asked. She placed a finger under his chin. "Do I get to scan you next, you naughty, naughty boy?"

"You are Breezie," Metal Sonic said, preparing to attack. "Created by Doctor Robotnik to seduce Sonic, you instead fell in love with him and betrayed the doctor." There was a pause as he considered this. "I like that," he decided. "You have a devious mind." He grabbed her by the hair. "Unfortunately, that means that I cannot trust you, so you must be eliminated!"

Breezie gave Metal Sonic a big smooch.

"St-stop that!" Metal Sonic said. He had been made to be just like Sonic, only ruthless. And Breezie had been made to be irresistible to Sonic. "Get away from me!" He backed away from her.

Because he was concentrating completely on Breezie, he didn't hear Sonic coming up behind him.

Bam! Pow! Clang! Sonic, desperate to protect his sister, who he thought was still in the last cart, attacked all out. Metal Sonic crashed into the wall of the cave. The ground shook. Dirt and rocks began to fall. Sonic realized their battle could easily pull the whole mountain down on everyone's heads. Metal Sonic would survive, and Sonic thought that he and Bunny might make it too. But everyone else would die.

Metal Sonic stood up. Blue-white sparks began to shoot out from him.

"Ah, man!" Sonic thought. "This is it!" "Go!" he yelled. "Go! Go! GO!!!"

Metal Sonic raised his hands over his head. "MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE!!!" He rushed at Sonic. There was no time to get out of the way. Sonic rushed him, leaping onto his head. Metal Sonic crashed right through the wall of the cave.

It was a long way down from where they were.

"Hah!" Metal Sonic cried. "I can fly! You can fall to your doom! Thus I prove that machines must rule!"

But Sonic wasn't ready to die just yet. He spun into a ball, propelling himself towards a small grove of trees. He bounced off of tree after tree, gradually slowing down his fall. As he'd hoped, Metal Sonic followed him instead of going after the others.

"You think you can save your sister and the others by making me follow you," Metal Sonic said, as if reading Sonic's mind. "But you only delay the inevitable!"

"Says you!" Sonic said, finally landing heavily. He bounced three times, then lay motionless.

"The time has at last come to destroy you!" Metal Sonic said, landing.

Sonic tried to get up, but the wind had been completely knocked out of him. He just needed a minute to recover. But it didn't look like he'd get that minute.

The first cart finally left the cave. The pirates, expecting a new cart arriving meant new ore, were surprised to see it full of kids, especially one that was so bright, she was glowing even in the daylight.

"Get Captain Whiskers!" one pirate yelled, drawing his cutlass. "I don't know what ye brats think ye be doin' here, but ye'll pay for tryin' to escape!"

"Ah, shut up!" Boris said, ducking under his attack and punching the pirate hard in the stomach. He dropped his sword and grabbed his belly.

"You…don't…fight fair…boy!" the pirate managed to say. Then he doubled over.

Six more pirates dropped their work with crates and barrels to rush the kids. Anita and Boris fought back to back. Glow jumped around, kicking each pirate in the shin. When one tried to grab her, she bit his hand. The other kids dived for cover behind the cargo and started tossing rocks, dirt clods, and occasionally loose nails.

The second cart came in. Harvey jumped out and blinded a couple of pirates. Another boy noticed a pile of two by fours and started passing them out.

By the time the Freedom Fighters had arrived in the third cart, the kids had managed to tie up the pirates.

"Um…great work, kids," St. John said, feeling suddenly as useful as a fifth wheel.

"It's not over yet," Anita said. "My brother's still fighting Metal Sonic."

"Yar! It do not be over for ye either, says I!" The speaker looked vaguely like Doctor Eggman.

"Captain Whiskers!" St. John said. "Still up to your old tricks, I see. Thought you were destroyed awhile back."

"Do I be knowing ye, ye scurvy mate?" Captain Whiskers asked. The ugly little robot on his left shoulder whispered something in his ear. "Ah! Jenfrey St. John!" he said. The robot smacked him.

"Geoffrey, moron!" the robot said.

"Quiet, you!" Captain Whiskers said. "Now, ye be coming onboard me ship so I can make ye walk the plank!" He pulled out two cannons. The robots on his shoulders both opened up to reveal built-in cannons.

Not knowing what else to do, they all went onboard Captain Whisker's ship.

The little robot on the captain's right shoulder whispered something in his ear.

"Ah, yes," Captain Whiskers said, "when ye walk the plank, Bonnie will be waiting to drag ye down to Davy Jones' Locker!"

The robot on his right shoulder smacked him. "Johnny, not Bonnie, you ninny!"

"Ye both being very unslavery, says I," Captain Whiskers said. "Wait. Unslavery? Is that a word? Well, ye knows what I mean!" He pointed into the water at the fin circling beside the boat.

Sonic struggled to stand up. Metal Sonic's chest cannon began to glow red. Sonic realized the laser would cut him in half. He reached for the phony emerald. Energy flowed into him. He leaped to his feet, and kept rising. The laser nicked his right shoe, but missed his foot.

"This ends now!" Sonic said.

"No, not quite," Metal Sonic said. He took off. Sonic ran after him. As he had feared, the robot was heading for the others.

"Stay away from my sister!" Sonic yelled. He stopped at the edge of the water. Sonic had hated water since he'd nearly drowned as a small child. He back pedaled, revved up, then raced to the water's edge. He sprang into the air, hurdling the gap between the shore and the boat.

"Stop wasting time!" Metal Sonic yelled at Captain Whiskers. He pushed Anita into the water. The circling shark came at her.

"That's it!" Sonic yelled. He was furious. The fake emerald began to glow black. Sonic felt a rage overtaking him. Everything turned red. He leaped at Metal Sonic, pounding the robot until he had opened up a small hole. Electrical energy flashed. He picked up Metal Sonic and threw him into the water. Metal Sonic landed about a thousand feet from the boat, where he short circuited. Sonic sprang into the water. He found his sister holding onto Johnny the Shark's mouth for dear life.

At best, Sonic was a very poor swimmer. But he managed to grab onto the shark's fin. Johnny shook Anita off and came at him. As the chaos energy completely faded, Sonic punched him in the gills. He'd heard that was the best way to stop a shark. Johnny pulled free and swam off. Sonic grabbed his sister, who seemed to have blacked out. He looked up at the ship. Metal Sonic's arrival had upset Captain Whiskers so much, that St. John and Bunny had managed to overpower him. The others had taken out the two small robots.

"Can I give you a lift, mate?" St. John asked, reaching for Sonic's hand.

Sonic handed Anita to him, then climbed out of the water. "Man, I hate getting wet!" Sonic said, shaking his quills all over everyone.

"Sonia!" Little Glow said. "We won! We won!" There was no reply. "Sonia?"

"Anita!" Sonic cried. "What's wrong?!"  
"She has a bad bump on her head," Honey said. "And her pulse is erratic. Is she diabetic or anything?"

"No," Sonic said. "She's always been healthy." He shook her. "Anita! Wake up!"

"Maybe this bloke knows something!" St. John said, grabbing Captain Whiskers.

"I don't know a thing!" the robot cried. "Honest! If I did, I wouldn't remember!"

"Then maybe one of these little guys knows something!" Breezie said. "Won't you tell for poor li'l me?"

"Johnny the Shark had his teeth poisoned," one admitted. "One little scrape, and dead!"

"No!" Sonic yelled. He grabbed the robot. "Where's the antidote?"

"Metal Sonic had it!" the little robot said. "You just threw it away!" Sonic smashed both of them.

"Who here knows how to pilot this boat?" Sonic demanded. "We're going after him!"

"I know a little," St. John said. "But you'd never find him! If he's destroyed, he's probably sank to the bottom of the ocean. If he's survived, he's probably hiding until he can repair himself."

"Then I'm going to have to get it from Eggman!" Sonic said.

"Let me call Nicole," Hershey said. "Maybe she can help."

"I don't have time!" Sonic said. "I can't wait until Sally feels like giving me the time of day!"

"Don't talk like that about the princess!" St. John said.

Sonic knocked him down. He picked up his sister, ran across the boat, and leaped. He landed on the shore, and peeled out.

"I'll take you to the first hospital I come to," Sonic promised. "Then I'll get Eggman to help you, or tear his head off!"

Sonic raced through the country. Faster. Faster! He had to go faster! Anita shivered. She was covered with goose bumps. She muttered something, but he couldn't follow her.

"Hang on, little sister!" Sonic said. "I'll get you help! I swear it!"

Faster. Faster. Sonic passed seven hundred miles an hour. Sonic booms went off behind him, but he paid them no attention.

"You can't have her!" he yelled. "You took Cosmo! You might have taken Tails by now, for all I know! You're not getting my sister!"

Sonic raced through the desert. At the rate he was going, he figured it would take him at least an hour to find help. He pushed himself. Mach 5. Mach 10. Mach 20. His legs were like lead weights. He was actually starting to get tired. He'd gone nearly a thousand times this fast as Super Sonic, but that power was beyond him at this time.

"GO!" he gasped, breathing heavily now. "GO! GO! GO!!"

Run Sonic. There's so little time left. And there's such a very long way to go. Good luck, Sonic the Hedgehog.

And so Sonic runs out of his own adventure and back into Tails' Story chapter 21. See you there!


End file.
